Wilson steps up in St. Albans win over Parkersburg

ST. ALBANS, W.Va. -- As St. Albans' fourth-leading scorer, point guard Torri Wilson is used to running the offense from the shadows of some of her teammates.

But foul trouble for St. Albans' top scorer Breanna Propst and some cold shooting from some of the rest of the Red Dragons gave Wilson a chance to step up offensively on Friday night and the sophomore didn't disappoint.

With Propst picking up her second foul just a few minutes into the first quarter, Wilson started to look for her own shot and scored 11 of her game-high 16 points in the first eight minutes to lead St. Albans to a 50-34 home win over Parkersburg.

"When Breanna comes out I know that I need to step it up, and also my teammates do a great job of stepping up too," Wilson said. "[Propst is] one of our main scorers, but we can also persevere."

Wilson piled up her points in an unselfish manner, passing out six assists as the Red Dragons (6-2) pulled away from the Big Reds early and cruised.

"Torri is probably one of the most underrated if not the most underrated point guard in the state of West Virginia, in my opinion," St. Albans coach Scott James said. "She is one heck of a player.

"She came out and rose to the occasion tonight. She makes that offense go. She's got to be our floor general and our coach out on the floor."

Whether in a full-court press, a zone or a man-to-man defense, Wilson was also tasked with chasing Parkersburg guards all over the floor, and she and her teammates did a fine job early and often, holding the Big Reds to just 13-for-50 shooting and forcing 24 turnovers.

That defensive effort limited the Big Reds (2-7) to just one point in the first quarter and nine in the first half as the Red Dragons built a 25-9 lead at the break.

Parkersburg just couldn't help its own cause either as it shot just 3 for 19 in the first two periods and missed the open looks it did get. Most of the Big Reds' open shots were from 3-point range, where they shot just 6 for 32 for the game.

"We didn't score," Parkersburg coach Kenny DeMoss said. "We played great 'D.' We held them at 25 at the half and 50 for the game, we want to keep teams between 40-50 points per game, that's our goal. We couldn't throw it in the ocean. If we make 25-30 percent more of our shots, it's a ball game."

To his point, Parkersburg was able to force 17 St. Albans turnovers and limit the Red Dragons to just 13-of-42 shooting from the floor. St. Albans did knock down 22 of 30 foul shots compared to just 2 of 8 for Parkersburg.

The win was a nice rebound for the Red Dragons after losing to South Charleston in their last outing.

"We come back off a loss and I thought we played pretty decent in the first half," James said. "We could've shot the ball a bit better and we had too many turnovers. In the second half we talked about coming out with intensity - do not turn the ball over - and I think we turned it over four or five times in a row. But they regrouped.

"We're tickled to death to be 6-2. I'm proud of the girls, but we've got to come and work and eliminate some of these mistakes."

Propst re-entered for St. Albans in the second half and rallied her way to 10 points and seven rebounds while Lexie Cooper contributed eight points.